Unmasking the workplace neurotic

Scan the empirical literature on neuroticism and you’re bound to end up baffled that neurotics are able to get through a single workday. Characterised by anxiety, worry, guilt, envy and sadness, there is evidence to suggest they’re more deviant, more accident-prone, and more frequently absent than their colleagues.

But is it all bad news? No, not really. Some research indicates neurotics are actually:

Better than other personalities at identifying threats in the workplace.

Less likely to take foolish risks.

And more likely to exceed expectations (because they’re always worrying about not meeting them).

That last point was emphasised in a study published in the Academy of Management Journal last year. People working together in teams were asked at the beginning of a project to assess the potential success of a neurotic participant. Unsurprisingly, those assessments were relatively low. But by the end of the project, those perceptions had risen considerably.

The explanation for that finding is straightforward. Neurotics are initially viewed by coworkers as over-sensitive, temperamental and challenging. But those negative judgements eventually soften when it becomes obvious that, for many neurotics, their heart is in the right place. It just takes a while for their colleagues to figure it out.

Like many psychological concepts, neuroticism operates on a continuum, with those on the moderate end having greater control over their emotions. In contrast, those on the extreme side feel as though they have far less influence over their environment and so they interpret trivial matters as major dramas.

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That manifests in what’s known as a cognitive distortion. There are many such distortions but here are four that are often evident in the workplace. You might recognise some of these in a colleague (or even in yourself).

The catastrophiser: This is the person who imagines the worst-case scenario as an inevitable outcome.

The labeller: This person forms judgements from minor occurrences, such as assuming he’s dumb just because he made one error.

The all-or-nothing thinker: This is the black-and-white employee who uses absolute (and exclamatory) words like “never!” and “always!”

The mind reader: This is the one who decides what someone’s thinking just by how they’re acting – and those conclusions are usually negative.

The curious thing about neurotic employees is that their behaviour doesn’t always lead to poor performance. In fact, several studies suggest the opposite.

Professors from the University of Arizona, for example, have found some types of neuroticism – particularly those resembling anxiety – can lead to greater performance because the condition compels neurotic employees to over-prepare due to the fear they have of failing.

From a medical perspective, perhaps it’s no surprise that neurotics are at greater risk of inflammation, drug abuse and death.

But an analysis of 1000 patients conducted at the University of Rochester two years ago revealed an interesting twist. If neurotics also happen to have high levels of conscientiousness, they’re less likely to suffer from chronic disease. (Conscientiousness was defined as those who were well-organised and had large amounts of self-control – attributes that would serve any workplace well.)

Neurotics are initially viewed by coworkers as over-sensitive, temperamental and challenging.

So what makes some people neurotic and others not at all? A leading researcher on this topic is Professor David Barlow from Boston University. His work over the past few decades has shown it’s part hereditary and part early life experience. The latter could include a traumatic event or an overbearing parent, and when that’s combined with a predisposition for neuroticism, trouble ensues.

The positive aspects of neuroticism mentioned above aren’t meant to discount the seriousness of the condition. They’re there merely to point out that, sometimes, behind a seemingly difficult employee lies (potentially) a dedicated and excellent performer. You just need to peek behind the mask.